Happy 16th Birthday, My Dear Sister

My plan to write 10,000 words by Friday went out the window when I started making my sister's cake. I only managed to write 3,500 words, which is pretty good by my standards, but her cake came out great and tasted good as well. I'll have to post the pictures later since  have to get them off of Ash's device.

For my sister's birthday, she had us go to Beach Place at Ft. Lauderdale by the sea to walk around and shop and to walk along the really cold beach. She checked all six of her friends into a suite and I and another friend was basically there to supervise. We spent most of the night playing around in the pool, in the sauna and finally ended our day chatting and gossiping until 4:30 in the morning. It wasn't as bad as I thought and for eight girls in a one bedroom suite we got by with only four complaints and two visits from the night shift security guards.

When I got back home around 2:00pm today, I felt as if I was run over by a truck. I had to take pain killers and a nap. One major disappointment for me is my diet. I spent so much time doing other things I just ate whatever was available, so I weight about 127 right now. It not so bad for two reasons. The first is about five months ago I was 140lbs and second, I'm only 10lbs away from my goal and I'm in no real rush.

I decided to start knitting a grocery bag. I've bought a lot from the store, but after a month or two, the rip. I think it's mainly because I don't have a car, so they have to take more of a beating. Anyway, I figure that a knitted bag would be much stronger.

That's all I have to say for now. Time to get more sleep!

Pretty Dresses Make Me Smile!

I went dress shopping with my younger sister today. She wanted to find something nice to wear for her 16th birthday, but unfortunately she has a weight problem, which she make a big deal about everywhere she goes. We almost didn't get out the house today because her cousin told her that the dress she was wearing made her look pregnant. I think that ruined the whole dress shopping experience.

I haven't bought any cute clothes in months, so after roaming through some stores with her, I finally broke down and tried on some. I fell in love! There was a cute one arm, striped number from Macy's that looked so great on me. I almost broke down and bought it. If only I had a job. I also tried on a few outfits that my sister had tried on. Biggest mistake of my life. She always looked over at me and told me how unfair it was for her to be that size and how much better I looked in the outfit, yet she kept encouraging me to try on the same outfits. She finally did settle on a black pencil skirt and a cute pink top that says me first. I almost gave in to the skirt as well, it was cute, comfortable and the right length for me and only $15.

Here's the link in case you're interested seeing the dress of my dreams. Good Night!
http://www1.macys.com/shop/product/rampage-dress-long-sleeve-one-shoulder-striped-cutout-mini?ID=629196&PseudoCat=se-xx-xx-xx.esn_results

I Need To Stop Making Promises

At least post-wise and to my sister. My sister will make you regret any promise you ever made to her and don't think of breaking even a small promise.

Well she's turning 16 on the 22nd of January. For her birthday she decided to go to the Hard Rock Casino and have a sleep over with four of her friends at the Sheridan Hotel. Sounds nice, I hope it goes well, so she doesn't cry and ruin her own birthday. She's known for spoiling joyous occasions.

Today I manage to write about 1,800 words, which is not bad, but compared to the 1,300 yesterday, that means that I will have to work much harder the rest of the week. That's all I have to say for now. Goodnight.

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day!

Today is Monday, January 16th, 2012. Martin Luther King Jr. Day! Today we honor the birth of one of our greatest civil rights heroes!

I fell asleep before posting yesterday, so I 'll post twice today. Since I'm going to have some free time, I'm starting a mini goal of writing 10,000 words by Friday. I think I can manage that. I've already written down an outline for three scenes in my story.

On Saturday, I asked my friend to help me free up some space on my computer. I have a MacBook Air with only 64GB of internal memory and I was down to my last GB. He did free up six more, but he erased all the knitting patterns I collected over the past month along with some content writing and proposal writing information that I referred to when I needed help at work. It took a long time to collect all that information and I won't know how to get have of them back. Granted, I should have labeled my stuff better, but the info was just for me and I knew what I was looking for.

Anyway, I was so upset about losing the patterns, I tried to get them back, but I didn't find any. Instead I came by this beautiful picture (which is not mine to share so I won't) called The Dragon King's Daughter and that inspired an idea for my mural. I'll start trying to sketch it out soon. Once I have a decent sketch, I'll have Ash go over it in Adobe and add a grid. This will allow me to use a ghost grid poster board to blow it up. I may draw it over or get it professionally printed if it doesn't cost too much. After that I will be able to transfer it on to the fabric, then go through the long tedious process of putting it on a slate frame.

Well that's all just an idea for now. We'll see when I really get it going. There's still so much to learn.

That's my first post for today. See ya later.

A Very Lazy Saturday

So today I woke up and spent the whole morning watching 4kids TV with all the cartoons I never really got into Yu-Gi-Oh and Sonic X. It was boring and funny, but it's what my girlfriend and friend wanted to watch. Generally on the weekend I take a break from Netflix and watch local television, mainly the cooking and gardening shows.

Later in the day, we went to Swap Shop to visit our neighbors barn. He's pretty much picks up anything he thinks he can resell, then effectively "injure" our diets. Ash had a big basket fried buffalo wings with curly fries. I had some of her fries and I ate half of a wing, but I didn't really like it. Something about the texture, plus the feeling of grease running down my fingers sparked a reaction in my brain that screamed "This is wrong!" My friend had a felafel sandwich, which did look good, but I wasn't really craving the carbs. So I settled on frozen yogurt. I think I safe enough for today.

On to my goals!

1.      Learn proper makeup application

Well every time I  put on makeup I look like a tramp, clown, raccoon, or prostitute, so I want to learn how to put on makeup without over or under doing it.

2.     Have 1,000 followers on Twitter

This isn't a big deal, but I would like to have a following. I want to be a more interesting person. I just have to figure out my niche.

3.     Own 15 pairs of stylish shoes

I own two fairly decent shoes. I need a variety. I love variety. Know what I mean.

4.     Go to the Renaissance Fair

I went last year and that place has a way of draining your cash, but it was so much fun!

5.     Learn to sew and create the My Queen dress

In my story, "My Queen" there is an elegant embroidered dress and it is hand made. I want to keep it that way and actually make it as I envisioned it, but first I need some better hand embroidery skills.

That's all on my social and lifestyle list. Finally! There's not much left. See ya!

Friday the 13th!

I didn't have any bad luck today, so for that I'm grateful. I'm not on my computer so this post will be very short. Right now I'm chewing on sunflower seeds, which is against my diet and watching my girlfriend play Fable III. To my right, on the bed with me, is my ex boyfriend, who likes to visit on the weekends.

I got plum wine and Cabernet Sauvignon from Publix and I can't wait to give them a try. Today was pretty uneventful. The two giant holes in the floor are finally fixed! I'm happy about that, but wasn't too comfortable with the stranger in the house.

Anyway that's all I have tonight. I hope your Friday the thirteenth was a lucky one!

Rabbits Galore!

Since I have some free time on my hands, I decided to clean up the rabbit environment. I'm really glad that I got this time because we were really neglecting them. It took all day and I got to wash 3 out of the six rabbits. Since I don't have a car anymore, it's been hard trying to get a hold of some rabbit food, so I decided to get some through Amazon.

I love Amazon! I found some rabbit food available for free shipping with Prime along with timothy hay and bedding. Yey! My bun buns will finally have everything they need.

Here is an awful picture of just two of my bunnies, taken from my girlfriend's Ipod Touch. The white one is named Bechamel after a french white sauce and the black one is names Collar because of the white fur around her neck looks like a collar. Bechamel is the mother and Collar is her daughter who was born on Easter.

I show you my entire bunny family later. Most likely under the family section.

Anyway I weighed in again this morning and I was 124.2lbs. That's fabulous after 10 days. From 129 to 124.2, that's 4.8lbs and I haven't even exercised as much as I want to.

So finally I go back to explaining some more goals.

Social and Lifestyle

This list is basically all the fun lifestyle stuff I want to do.

1.     Compile a Lifestyle Lolita Handbook for Starling’s Lifestyle Lolita

Lolita is a fashion statement, but you can't help wondering what a person who dresses like that is like. I want to create my own Lifestyle Lolita guide book based on my ideals. I think it'll be a fun side project.

2.     Go to a Lolita meet up or create a club in person or online

There's not many of them in South Florida, so it'll probably have to be online.

3.     Purchase Lolita Dresses (8+ complete outfits)

Lolita clothing are expensive and with all the things going on in my life I know this will be a challenge.

4.     Join a club with another interest for at least six weeks (Toastmaster?)

I like making speeches and I find that a club like this will help me meet new people.

That's all for tonight. I'll post again tomorrow.

I Got Laid Off... Again!

Two jobs in two weeks, it's amazing. They thought they were helping me out, but all they did is cause me more stress.

The reason: My girlfriend is the graphic designer there and I'm too much of a distraction.
The truth: Her behavior changed because I was there, but that was her decision.
Reality: It's just business and anyone working under them is just worker.

There was a meeting today and we were told to be transparent, but honestly all one of the bosses did was call out people in the open who they believed wasn't doing there job.

He called out one the computer animators for being on the phone to much. He was talking to his mother, who just went through surgery! The boss says if that's the case, then he should let everyone know. Everyone did know! The animator didn't even work under him anyway!

He called out a stock room person for not showing up to work. The guy got pulled over and couldn't get out of the situation. After all his loyal work, he should get a pass.

Here's the worse part. They pay the employees between 7.25 and 10 dollars. Should a graphic designer really be making ten dollars after a year of work and that's after three raises!

Times are tough, but that's slave wages especially since most of them work overtime and don't get time and a half. They say that we were a team, but honestly people move in and out of the place because they can't stand the abuse. Yes, I mean abuse. If something doesn't go there way, they have a little temper tantrum.

I was so upset today. I couldn't believe it. As much as I love their product I hate the lack of ethics in that work place. You should never call out your employees like that. Well anyway, that's all I have to say. I just needed to vent somewhere. I'll talk about goals later.

Make me Up!

Well I just spent and hour in the bathroom trying to learn how to apply makeup. I think in the end I ended up looking like a drag queen, but there were some parts about my new look I liked. The foundation that I have is new from Cover Girl and if I combine two of there foundations, it matches my skin tone perfectly.

I managed to listen to my first Japanese Lesson and hopefully I'll be able to do so for 89 days. I'll post what I learned in the Hobbies and Interest section. I'm so excited even if I won't have anyone else to talk to. Maybe I'll just submerge myself in the world of raw anime. Ha, ha, am I getting ahead of myself?

Good news, I might get the holes in my floor fixed. Bad news, no more withholding rent. I really can't wait to leave this place.

Anyway it's getting late so I will end this post for today and go back to explaining my goals tomorrow. See ya!

So tired... I need to get more sleep

I stopped working at five in the evening, but my girlfriend still had more work to do, so I literally fell asleep at my desk. I'm sure it looked weird on the office cameras, but that's how out of it I was.

My little terrier, Frankie, won't stop barking at night and the springs in my bed are starting to wear out, but that's just fairy dust compared to all of my bad luck. Oh and here's a picture of my little hell raiser.

Isn't he cute!

I think tomorrow I'll start learning Japanese and review what I learned on my blog. I hope I have enough energy.  I also tried writing Chapter eight after work, but I feel like I've just wrote myself into a corner. Fortunately I have a rough outline (somewhere) that might break me out of this rut. I also have a lovely pattern that I want to try knitting, but unfortunately, I can't get my hands on some good yarn just yet. Here's the pattern if you're interested.

Alpaca Scarf

On to more goals. It was so much easier writing the list, but explaining it is hard work.

Hobbies and Interests

1.     Created my own scented candles (5 types, 20+)

If I want to incense, I think scented candles is just another step.

2.     Create my own essential oil (30+, 10+ ounces)

This would be the main point of acquiring a still and I'll be able to use them with my vaporizers as well. I'll finally be able to enjoy the healing properties of herbs.

3.     Create my own bath product and hair products (6+)

This is connected with wanting to make essential oils. I have very sensitive skin and I even react to some of the more 'natural' products.

4.     Learn how to ride a motorcycle

They look fun and I wouldn't mind owning one as a main method of transportation.

5.     Create a music video

This one might seem silly, but I know we all wished we could be a part of a music video at some point in our lives.

6.     Learn to Knit (5 pieces)

I've already knitted one, which was a slouch cap for my little sister and I gave it to her before I even took a picture of it. I might not count it and just leave it as a good first try.

Well that ends my hobbies list. A long one, I know, but at least I'm more than half way through it now.

Today was so... Relaxing

I completed Chapter 7 today and spent the rest of the day cooking and relaxing, mostly cooking.

I have six rabbits who are now out of food. I walked to Publix, only to find out that they are out of rabbit food, so I had to get creative and make my own rabbit food mix. I used organic carrots, salad mix, dried corn, oat, rye and barley mix, ground flax seed, and dried apricots. Sounds safe enough to me. They seemed to enjoy it so I'm happy they are fed tonight.

So I found out I'm a bit of a control freak because the 21 Day Belly Melt diet only has the first week of recipe set, then it give you a lot of other recipes you can mix in with what you already have tried. I gave my girlfriend the task of picking all the meals for next week and making the grocery list. I realized that I couldn't help standing over her to see what she was picking even though there's no way you could mess up. I felt silly when I realized that. I also didn't like the way she was checking the items off of the list so I went back over it to make it look neater, even though we thew out the list when we were done.

This time the shopping cost much more than I wanted, but I did get a lot of items that will last weeks down the road.

Well back to talking about more goals. I'm talking about five today as I end up being a little worn down from explaining ten or more.

Hobbies and Interests

1.     Learn to make a grow light or environment

I always end up living somewhere with not enough light, so I want to make the perfect growing environment for indoor plants, which I do want quite a few of.

2.     Create a Witch’s staff

As a green witch, one thing I'm missing is a staff, but I don't want to buy one. This one I have to make.

3.     Complete Embroidery Book

I have a little embroidery book that I want to complete. I do have some basic embroidery skills, but I think that if I could finish the book, I'll be prepared for a mural.

4.     Acquire a Distiller

I would like a small still so that I can try my hand at making essential oils, which will help me also achieve some of my other goals.

5.     Create my own incense (10 types, 1000+)

I love burning incense and making my own would make me feel better. Here's something that definitely used essential oils. 

That's all for now. Work tomorrow... oh well.

A beautiful world!

So I weighed in this morning at 126 meaning that after 5 days of flat belly I've lost approximately 3 lbs. This doesn't really surprised me though because the day before I initially weighed myself, I ate half of an ice cream cake. Who knows what I really weighed!

Today I went to a couple of garage sales with a few friends, which was pretty fun and I actually bought some old cook books and children's books that are really great. Tomorrow I'll put up a picture and description of them on the 'Hobbies and Interests" page for anyone interested in seeing them.

Hobbies and Interest

I'm only going over a couple goals under this section to keep this blog short. I'm very tired.

1.     Learn Japanese (well enough to watch a raw movie)

Despite living around so many Spanish people, I always had in interest in learning Japanese. Speaking of that, I really need to get started. I'll start with Pimsleur and then expand to other learning resources like JapanesePod101.com.

2.     Create a 100 page scrapbook

I bought the scrapbook and I basically what it as a physical, more visual version of this blog. 

3.     Embroider Ritual Mat

I always want a ceremonial mat to use on holidays, but I haven't really thought of a great design yet.

4.     Embroider Mural 

I have the same problem finding a design for a mural because once I get deep enough, there's no turning back.

5.     Learn to play the piano

I think if this is the musical instrument I'm most interested. If only I had lessons.

6.     Learn to fish (catch 10)

I've gone fishing my twice in my life and I caught a fish about three inches long. It was ridiculous, but fun. I really would like to learn how to catch dinner.

That's all I have for now. I really need to rest now, but I didn't want to let the day go by without another post.

My Beautiful, My Heart, My Passion

I actually got some writing done, approximately 1,000 words, while waiting for my girlfriend after work. I'm almost done chapter 7! So exciting! I'm also on day 5 of 21 for the 21-Day Belly Melt diet and I'm feeling great.

For those who care to know. This diet is similar to the Flat Belly Diet. The concept is 4 - 400 calorie meals a day: breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner. The diet focuses heavily on moofahs, i think that's how you pronounce it, which are monounsaturated fats. This means plenty of olive oil, olives, nuts, and dark chocolate. These kind of fats appearently help you reduce your belly fat and this diet claims you can lose 3 inches from your waist in three weeks. So far this diet keeps me very full and satisfies my chocolate cravings. I might weigh in tomorrow to see if there's any progress.

Lately, I've been trying out a lot of makeup. I realize its going to take some time to fine something that right for me. My skin is sensative and oily, but I'm not saying too much about makeup until I really get experimenting.

On to my goals! This one is boring, but I have to get this done.

Financial

1.     Have $5,000 in savings

This is basically for a down payment to the car and a little extra to help me move. So far I'm not close enough.

2.     Raise credit score 50 points

My credit isn't the best so it just something I have to work on, if I can ever get a credit card.

3.     Get proper Health Insurance

I need it! When I had it through my parents I made sure to get my two to three month check ups, but now its been a year since I've been to any physician. If only it wasn't so expensive.

4.     Start retirement plan

I want to do the responsible adult thing and save for when I'm old or incase something happens to me to prevent me from working, but honestly I'll probably never want to stop working.

5.     Research the cost of having a child

Just something I have in mind for the future.

6.     Create a personal budget and stick to it for at least three months

For having a AA in Accounting, I really don't like counting my pennies, so when life evens out, I would like to create a budget I can stick to.

That's all for now! I feel better getting that out of the way. Tomorrow!

Stressed!

Our roommate was gone for the holidays and it reminded me why I wanted to leave place as soon as my lease is up. Rent was due two weeks and we are withholding the cash until the landlord fixes the two very large holes in our floor. I can't stop saying it. If I had the money to move, I would do it asap, but I try not to dwell on it. It would also be nice to not live with a stranger anymore. He's a very laid back guy, but for some reason I can not relax with him living with us.

I feel like I'm stuck in a web right now.

Anyway that's all I really have to say about my life. On to more goals!

Food and Wine

I love the culinary arts, so here are all the goals I have on food and wine.

1.     Create a 12 course themed formal dinner

I want to create a well executed 12 course dinner with maybe three types of wine and a nice beer. The meal would probably be for four to six people, but I'm not sure who I would invite. Picky eaters, I hate to say it, annoy me.

2.     Brew 24 wines (6 ritual)

Wine making is something I've done since I was old enough to drink. I don't make grape wines. As much as I would like to, they are expensive and not really that interesting. I have made a variety of fruit and herb wines. Now that interesting. Right now I have a tangerine, a rose, and rose/lavender wine going. 

Rose wines are in the front, Tangerine in the back to the left. This is my wine table, but I put my knitting supplies on it too!

3.     Go to a Food and Wine Festival

These go on often, but I've only volunteered at one. While I might not be able to afford the SoBe Food and Wine. I have to make it to one of the smaller ones.

4.     Create a Gingerbread House 

I've only done it in school with a team. I want to make an interesting one for myself, even if its in July.

5.     Create 50^th birthday cake for Mom

This I've already done this and it didn't come out that bad. I'm not a baking and pastry student, so I did this with a lot of guess work and I made everything from scratch, fondant and all. Big mistake, but it was appreciated.

Yellow's her favorite color

I wasn't too thrilled about it, but she was happy!

6.     Create birthday cake for Ashley

Since I did it for my mom, then why not for my favorite girl. I think I have a fairy theme in store for her. I have plenty of time to practice.

7.     Create eight course meal using molecular gastronomy

What can I say? I like to experiment in the kitchen.

8.     Create a series of unique foods or desserts for photograph

One thing I don't have is a nice portfolio of my food creations. It's time I put in a little effort.

9.     Create two formal dinners based on one ingredient

Green tea dinner anyone? A coffee theme sounds great as well. I think a dinner themed around one ingredient is a great idea. Now if only I had a place to entertain. One that I won't have to worry about my guests going through the floor.

10.  Enter a cooking or baking contest

Why not? It seems fun.

I think all of these things are doable within the year. I'm excited to see what I can create!